Coach Slot fears Bournemouth's aggressive play

(Dan Tri) - Liverpool coach Arne Slot believes Bournemouth's aggressive style of play could cause Liverpool a lot of trouble when the two teams open the 2025-26 Premier League season in the early morning of August 16.

PREMIER LEAGUE 2025-26 ROUND 1 FIXTURES

Saturday, August 16, 2025

Liverpool - Bournemouth (2h)

Aston Villa - Newcastle (6:30 p.m.)

Brighton- Fulham (9pm)

Sunderland - West Ham (9pm)

Tottenham - Burnley (9pm)

Wolves - Man City (23:30)

Sunday, August 17, 2025

Chelsea - Crystal Palace (8pm)

Nottingham - Brentford (20h)

Man Utd - Arsenal (22:30)

In a press conference ahead of the new season, Liverpool manager Arne Slot expressed his excitement and readiness for the challenge of defending the Premier League title. However, he also frankly acknowledged the difficulties and challenges the team is facing.

Liverpool's preparations: 'As ready as possible'

Slot insists Liverpool are ready for the new season (Photo: Getty).

Asked about Liverpool's readiness for the new season, Slot said: "We are as ready as we can be. I think I highlighted last week that we have lost three or four starters, and unfortunately Ryan Gravenberch was not available last week and will not be available this week. That means if you exclude the goalkeeper from the 10 winger positions, there are five different positions to the starters we had last season."

Slot is still pleased with the quality of his new signings, though: "If you look at the quality we've brought in, I'm very happy with that. Without the ball, eight out of ten is very good - but the aim of this club is not eight out of ten, it's ten out of ten. And that's the fine-tuning we still need to find in defence."

He also pointed out areas for improvement in pre-season friendlies: "This pre-season was better than the last one. Against Athletic Club Bilbao, I was really, really happy with our defensive performance because I think we didn't lose any chances from open play. However, we conceded two goals from set pieces. Against Crystal Palace, the main chances we conceded were when we lost the ball ourselves."

Slot concluded: "So, there are ups and downs, there are downs, but I think the most important thing is that we still have to improve. That's normal. I think for everyone in pre-season, it's normal that there's still room for improvement, not to mention that we're not only losing three or four starters, but I think we're losing five or six players who played a lot of minutes for us last season and we've brought in four new players, so it's normal that we need a bit of adjustment. But we're definitely ready for the new season."

Expectations for the season: "More difficult than every year"

Hugo Ekitike is one of Liverpool's new recruits (Photo: Getty).

On his expectations for this season, Slot admitted that defending the title is a big challenge: "The reason why it's so difficult to retain the title is mainly because there are so many other teams who can win the league here. Winning it once is very special, but you can win it twice in three, four or five years, or like we did, twice in five years and [Manchester] City have been better than us in the last few years. So it's incredible if you can do it in this league."

He also predicted a competitive season: "And maybe this year will be more difficult than usual, because every team has brought in new players, but our main rivals have certainly done the same."

First opponent: Bournemouth - "Very fierce"

Asked about their first opponents, Bournemouth, Slot praised their intensity: "They really troubled us last season with their intensity. We beat them 3-0, which made you wonder, 'What is he talking about, difficult?'. But if you look at the game, they had the first clear chance, they scored a goal which was offside. Then we counter-attacked three times, we were very quick in moving the ball from the back to the front. And suddenly at half-time we were 3-0 up, and then I thought - which I always thought when I was a coach in Holland - 'It's going to be 4, 5 or 6-0'."

But the spirit that Bournemouth showed in the second half kept them going. It was a spirit that they maintained throughout the season. Bournemouth lost a few players in the summer but also brought in some quality players as they have shown over the last few years that they can always bring in quality players. So we have a very strong opponent, a good manager and a challenge ahead. But I am looking forward to the game at Anfield, everyone will be looking forward to it."

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/hlv-slot-e-ngai-loi-choi-quyet-liet-cua-bournemouth-20250815124211599.htm